


What Child Is This?

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Series: 12 Days of Christmas -- Chlollie Style (2010) [3]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Babies, Christmas, F/M, Families of Choice, Fluff and Angst, JLA - Freeform, Parenthood, Patrolling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:54:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24245338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: Oliver and Mia are out patrolling on Christmas eve and Mia finds something every unexpected.
Relationships: Chloe Sullivan & Mia Dearden, Oliver Queen & Mia Dearden, Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Series: 12 Days of Christmas -- Chlollie Style (2010) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1747537
Kudos: 4





	What Child Is This?

"Seriously? This is stupidly slow, I know tomorrow is Christmas and all but there _has_ to be someone out there who wants to steal something or break in somewhere, right?" Mia asked, looking down at the streets from the rooftop, shivering a little because of the cold.

"I'm trying here, Speedy, but it's pretty deserted out there," Chloe said through the communicator.

Oliver couldn't help but grin at the younger woman's enthusiasm. Since she'd started patrolling with him on a nightly basis, he was reminded of how eager and excited he'd been when he'd first suited up. It only served to feed his own enthusiasm and sense of duty. "Guess everyone's too full of turkey and cranberry sauce to commit crime."

"But it's not even really Christmas yet, they are supposed to get full tomorrow, today they are supposed to be out breaking into department store's vaults, I bet they are full of money," Mia pointed out.

"Well, it's fifteen minutes past midnight, so it is Christmas." Chloe corrected her.

Oliver shrugged a little, looking out over Star City's skyline and then back at Mia. "It's not quite as crime-ridden as Metropolis, Kid."

"I guess at least it's not snowing." She said, taking a deep breath, "this would _really_ suck otherwise."

He grinned at that. "So you're not sorry we came to California for the holidays instead of staying in Kansas?"

"No," she said, raising her eyebrows, "I've had enough with the cold, we can move here for all I care."

Oliver raised his own eyebrows. "Hear that, Watchtower? That's two votes for California. What do you say?"

Chloe smirked from her chair back at the Queen penthouse, "I say no one ever even told me this was an option," she told him.

He grinned a little more. "Nothing's ever _not_ an option," he told her.

"That's decided then, we're moving to California," Mia smirked.

"I don't remember agreeing with anything," Chloe pointed out.

"You didn't disagree with it either." Mia told her, shifting then getting up.

"She has a point." He smirked a little.

"You should go back," Mia told Oliver, "talk her into it. I'll go take another look around and meet you back there." She'd been trying to get Oliver to let her patrol on her own since she started but he still wouldn't let her.

He frowned at the suggestion. "Trying to ditch me on _Christmas_?"

"Just for an hour or so," she told him, grinning brightly and adjusting her bow over her shoulder.

He eyed her for a moment, then glanced out over the city with a sigh. "All right. I suppose so." He rose to his feet. "You sure you'll be okay out here on your own?" he couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Yeah," she grinned even more, "and I won't be out that long, promise."

Oliver couldn't help but smile back at her, shaking his head. "All right. See you back at home." He winked at her, then slid his glasses on and jumped over to the next roof, vanishing from view. "On the way back, Watchtower."

"Good to know, Arrow," Chloe said, smiling a little, "are you flying solo for a while, Speedy?" she asked.

"I'll call for help if I need, Tower," Mia assured her.

"Be safe, Speedy," Oliver told her even as he climbed onto the balcony of his apartment building. He opened the sliding glass door and pushed his hood back and off his head, taking off his glasses once more and flashing Chloe a bright grin.

Chloe left her earpiece in her ear but muted it on her end as she stood up from her chair, "what are you so excited about?"

"It's Christmas. What's not to be excited about?" He winked at her, setting the glasses down on a small table and moving over to her.

"It's Christmas and we're not freezing," she corrected him, smirking a little as she looked up at him.

"Even better." He smirked back at her, dipping his head and kissing her, one gloved-hand threading through her hair.

Chloe kissed him back without hesitation as she lifted her hands to his sides, her fingers wrapping around the leather of his uniform as she pulled him closer.

He brushed his nose over hers lightly, nipping at her lower lip and reaching up to mute his own earpiece. He pulled back just enough to look at her, raising his eyebrows and smirking once more.

She smirked back at him and cocked her head, reaching to unzip his vest, "is this how you're going to convince me?"

"Convince you?" he echoed, leaning in and kissing her neck even as he untucked her shirt from her jeans.

Chloe laughed softly, "you don't even remember why Mia sent you back, do you?" She teased, pulling his vest from over his shoulders carefully not to hurt either one of them with the arrows. 

"I think it was part of her Christmas present to both of us," he teased back, pressing a kiss to her jaw. "Alone time for the adults." He kissed her earlobe lightly. "There's plenty of time to convince you to move to Star City later."

She shivered and closed her eyes, hooking her fingers on top of his pants and tugging him with her as she started to walk backward, "I don't know, I think this type of convincing would be the one most likely to work on your advantage."

He considered that for a second, resting his hands on her hips to steady her as they walked toward the master bedroom. "Hm, think of the possibilities," he murmured, kissing her jaw again. "Making love on the beach under the stars..." He kissed her throat. "Year-round," he added, sliding a hand up the back of her shirt.

Chloe took a deep breath and raised her eyebrows, "sex on the beach," she smirked, closing her eyes, "I wondered how long it would take you to bring that up."

Oliver grinned, kissing the corner of her mouth. "Plus I happen to know for a fact that a billionaire who owns a lot of the buildings in the city wouldn't mind us having... _fun_ on the rooftops of any of them..."

"Oh? And we can't do that in Metropolis?" She teased, pulling him into the bedroom and reaching for the side zipper on his leather pants.

"We could," he told her, nodding a little and unfastening the clasp of her bra. "But I can't promise we won't get arrested."

"And here you can?" She asked, shivering a little and shrugging off her bra, "what are you, the sheriff?"

"Well, this _is_ the Green Arrow's city," he murmured, lowering his mouth to kiss her collarbone as he backed her toward the large bed.

She shivered and ran her hands over his back, "I guess Green Arrow should be in his city, then."

"As long as his Watchtower's with him, I have no doubt, he'll be happy about it," he murmured, sliding his arms around her and laying her down on the bed, kissing her deeply.

Chloe kissed him deeply in return and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him to her.

"Uh, guys?" Mia's voice suddenly startled them out of their passionate embrace.

Oliver groaned involuntarily, resting his head against her collarbone for a moment. Then he reached up and turned the microphone back on the comm device. "What is it, Speedy?"

"We have a problem."

Chloe shifted, picking up her bra and sitting up quickly as she turned her microphone back on too, "what's wrong?" She asked, alarmed.

"I'm fine," she assured both of them, "but I... found something."

Oliver's eyebrows furrowed. "What did you find?"

"Look," Mia said, taking a deep breath, "I'm almost back, okay? Just make sure you two have clothes on when I get back."

He exchanged a look with Chloe, raising his eyebrows. "All right..."

"How far out are you?" Chloe asked, holding Oliver's gaze as she clasped her bra back on.

"Five minutes. I'm taking the long way."

"Okay, and you're sure you're not hurt? Do you want us to come pick you up with the car?" Chloe asked once more, worried.

"Guys, I'm fine. I'm not hurt. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Okay," Chloe said again, "let us know if you change your mind, we'll be listening."

Oliver frowned as he moved toward the closet and pulled out a clean shirt, tugging it on over his head. "What do you think's going on?"

"I don't know, but let's see how far out she is," Chloe told him, picking up her shirt and sliding it back on before starting down the hall.

He tugged on a pair of jeans and followed her, raking a hand through his hair.

Chloe pulled up the screen and took a deep breath when Mia's dot showed up moving toward the penthouse, "she's about a block and half away."

He frowned a little, perturbed by the fact she was taking the ground route. He knew Mia enjoyed the rooftop leaping as much as he did. If not more so. "Weird," he murmured.

"Yeah," she said quietly, "what do you think it is?"

"I have no idea," he admitted, glancing at her with worry.

"Not much longer," she told him, eyes back on the screen.

They waited in relative silence for a few more minutes, and then he heard the elevator making its ascent to the apartment. Raising his eyebrows, he made his way out the front door to greet Mia. The last thing he'd expected when the doors slid open was to see her carrying a small, crying bundle in her arms. "Uhh...."

Chloe's eyes widened when Mia walked in, she glanced at Ollie then stepped forward, "is that..."

"Hm, yeah." Mia said, pursing her lips together, "I found him, I think it's a him, in an alley, behind a dumpster."

Oliver stared at her with wide eyes, then looked at Chloe. "Well, this is new."

"Is it okay?" Chloe asked, approaching Mia carefully, "we should call a doctor."

"Yeah, here," Mia said, handing the baby to Chloe as quickly as she could while still being careful, "I don't know."

"Who would leave a baby behind a dumpster?" He frowned deeply, moving a little closer to Chloe to take a peek at the infant.

"Someone who didn't want him," Mia said, shrugging, "he's better off without whoever that was."

Oliver paused at her words, his chest tightening as he looked at her. The matter-of-fact tone of her voice hurt to hear. He gently brushed his fingers through the tiny child's soft blond hair.

"What should we do?" Chloe asked quietly, looking down at the baby as he calmed down.

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "Take him to the nearest hospital and get him checked out?" he suggested softly.

"No! What if the cops see him? What if they take him back to whoever dumped him or send him to an orphanage or something." Mia said, her eyes wide as she looked up at Oliver.

"Well, Mia, we can't just keep him," he said, shaking his head as his frown deepened. Then he paused, glancing at Chloe. "Right?"

"Right," Chloe said, her eyes suddenly even wider, "we don't know the first thing about taking care of kids and we don't know what happened."

Mia shook her head, shock clear on her face, "you two have no idea what it is like in those orphanages! What if no one adopts him? What if he just keeps going from orphanage to orphanage until he starts living on the street and stealing and doing other stuff? He was already dumped once, you can't dump him again!"

Oliver stared at her for a moment, then reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. "We'll figure _something_ out, okay?"

She stared up at him, her eyes big and then she nodded slightly.

Chloe pursed her lips together and shifted the baby in her arms then took a deep breath, "do you have any doctors you can contact that won't ask questions?" Chloe asked quietly, looking from Mia to Oliver.

"Just Emil," he admitted, looking between them and chewing the inside of his cheek. "I'll call Bart. Have him run him in."

"Okay," Chloe agreed then looked down at the baby for a second before moving into the next room slowly and carefully sitting down on the couch.

Oliver watched her go, then glanced at Mia once more, squeezing her shoulder gently before moving to get his phone.

* * *

Emil had just left about fifteen minutes ago, Bart had made a run to Babies-R-Us and had picked up all the basics, or what he had considered to be the basics anyway. Luckily he had remembered formula and diapers. According to Emil, the baby was in perfect health and was about two months old.

Chloe, who had been handed the baby once more after Emil was done with him, was sitting on the couch, trying her hardest not to move as the baby yawned, "I think he's tired." She said quietly.

"Good thing Bart got a bassinet," Oliver said with a small smile, a worried expression on his face.

"Yeah," Mia said, "we should let him sleep, I'll stay with him." She told them.

His chest tightened a little at that. "All right." He looked at Chloe and drew in a breath. "Why don't you go ahead and put the bassinet in your room, Speedy? We'll bring him in."

Chloe looked at him and nodded a little.

"C'mon, I'll help," Bart said, standing up and holding his hand out to her.

Mia smiled at him a little and let him help her to her feet before she grabbed hold of the bassinet and wheeled it toward the bedroom she was staying in.

Chloe looked over her shoulder then back at Oliver, her eyes had been permanently wide since Mia walked in with the bundle, "what are we going to do?" She whispered.

"I have no idea," he whispered back, raking a hand through his hair. "One step at a time. Let's get the kid to bed."

"Okay," she agreed quietly, shifting to the edge of the couch then stilling, "I don't think I can get up without dropping him."

Oliver hesitated a moment, then rose to his feet, leaning down and holding his arms out in a cradled position.

She held her breath and slowly lifted the baby to his arms, her entire body tense.

He smiled faintly, carefully taking the baby from her and cradling his tiny form to his chest. "Got him," he whispered. He straightened and took a deep breath, gazing down at the child, then kissing his forehead lightly.

Chloe was letting her breath out then she looked up and stilled at the sight of Oliver with the baby and at that second, she knew there was no other option.

"Let's get you to bed, little guy," he murmured. "I'll be right back." He glanced at Chloe, pausing at the expression on her face, then heading to the other room.

She sighed deeply and rubbed her hands over her face before leaning back against the couch and staying there as she waited for him to get back.

Oliver returned a moment later with a faint smile on his face. "I don't think it's going to take him long to pass out."

"That's good," she said quietly, looking up at him, "is Bart staying in the other guest room?"

He nodded a little, gazing at her and then slowly sitting down on the sofa beside her once more. He draped his arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple.

Chloe sighed deeply and curled up against his side, wrapping an arm around him, "we're keeping him, aren't we?"

He was quiet for a moment. "I don't know," he said softly. "Do you think we're ready for that?"

"Does it matter?" Chloe said quietly and shook her head, "Mia will never forgive us if we don't and you are already incredibly attached to him, Ollie." She took a deep breath, "and she is right anyway, we can't just drop him off at the nearest police station."

Oliver blew out a breath. "And what about you?"

"What about me?" She asked, shaking her head a little.

"I mean, how do _you_ feel about it?" He turned so he was facing her, studying her intently.

"Terrified?" She said quietly then shook her head again as she reluctantly lifted her head to look at him, "but we don't have a choice."

"There are always choices, Chloe," he murmured, lifting a hand to her face and tucking some hair behind her ear. "They're just not usually easy ones to make."

"We're not that kind of people, Ollie," she whispered to him, "I will do some research and check if anyone is actually looking for him, in case he was kidnapped or something, but, if he wasn't..."

He gazed at her, rubbing his thumb lightly over her cheek. "And what about the media?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know," she said quietly, " _if_ we keep him, I guess we can come up with a story, say he comes from a previous affair you had?"

Oliver winced a little at that. "Yeah," he murmured. "He does have blond hair at least. They'd buy it in a heartbeat."

"Yeah," she said quietly, "and the people who matter will know the truth," she said quietly, laying her cheek on his shoulder.

"You do, right?" he whispered, kissing her temple. "You know I've never cheated on you. I've never even _considered_ it." 

"Ollie," she frowned a little at his words and shook her head, pulling back enough to look at him, "if I thought that was a possibility I would never be with you."

He smiled softly at that. "Good," he said quietly, kissing her forehead. "I just wanted to make sure."

Her arm tightened at him and she shook her head a little, "doesn't mean the idea of raising that kid doesn't terrify me, though," she whispered.

"It does me, too," he admitted. "But if this is what we decide to do...we'll have each other, right? And Mia and the team..."

"Yeah," Chloe agreed, "but if we do this, that kid will need a mother and a father."

Oliver gazed at her intently, nodding a little. "I know."

She took a deep breath and held his gaze, "I guess we need to... see what we can find before we consider this."

"I think that's the best idea."

"Whatever it is, we'll figure it out together," she whispered to him, mostly reassuring herself.

"We always do," he whispered back, leaning in and kissing her very softly.

She kissed him back just as softly, but wrapped her arm tightly around him.

He leaned his head against hers and shut his eyes. "Come on, let's get some sleep while we can."

"Okay," Chloe whispered to him, pressing a kiss to his temple and sighing softly. Unless the baby had been kidnapped or something of that nature, she had no doubt they were going to keep him and maybe the fact that she had already planned everything around keeping him so quickly meant that she also wanted to keep him.

Besides, it was Christmas, finding a baby like that, it had to mean something good, right?

* * * 

By four p.m. on Christmas, all the packages had been opened and Oliver lay on the sofa with the baby on his chest, fast asleep. His own eyes kept drifting shut. Despite that they'd gone to bed at a halfway decent time--if one could call five in the morning halfway decent (it was for _them_ )--he was pretty sure none of them had gotten much sleep. There were too many unanswered questions, too many unknowns. He knew Victor was doing a search on kidnapped infants from Watchtower in Metropolis, even while Chloe did her own investigation from the apartment. 

Glancing over to where she was sitting at the desk, working intently, he smiled a bit and rubbed the infant's back gently. He couldn't get over how _tiny_ he was. How defenseless. His chest tightened at the thought and he glanced over to where Mia was laying on the sofa, curled up on her side, asleep. Then he looked at Bart, who was snoring lightly from where he was sacked out on one of Oliver's recliners. 

Family wasn't just about blood. None of them were related--none of them on the team--but did that make them any less of a family? He had loved all of them for a long time. And maybe they were a bit hard to wrangle and a bit difficult to deal with at times--but what family wasn't? He drew in a breath and gazed at the child once more. 

It was no different, really. They were all misfits that somehow fit together and made the puzzle complete. And maybe this baby, this tiny soul that had been abandoned and unwanted was just another puzzle piece, who would fit into their lives just right. Swallowing hard, he realized _his_ mind had been made up and he looked over at Chloe silently.

Chloe took a deep breath and leaned back against her chair after a long moment, that was when she felt eyes on her and slowly turned around, her eyes falling on him almost instantly and she sighed deeply, the look on his face told her enough, he had just realized what she had last night. The mix of fear and determination on his features told her so. She got up slowly and stretched before making her way over to the couch and kneeling down next to it, not wanting to wake up the baby or Mia and Bart.

"You okay?" She whispered to Oliver, watching him closely.

He smiled a bit and nodded, gazing at her intently. "We're keeping him," he whispered.

She held her breath for a moment then let it out slowly, nodding, "I know."

"You knew last night," he murmured, reaching out and touching her cheek.

Chloe nodded a little and leaned into his touch, pursing her lips together, "yeah," she whispered, "and Vic hasn't managed to find anything either so..."

He held her gaze for a long moment, then turned his head to look at the sleeping infant. "Well, he needs a name," he murmured.

She shifted closer and nodded a little, pursing her lips together as she placed her hand on Oliver's arm and held on to him then turned to look at the baby too, "he does, do you have any ideas?"

Oliver was quiet for a moment, stroking his fingers lightly over the child's golden hair. "Not really."

"Why don't we ask Mia when she wakes up?" Chloe suggested quietly, sitting on the floor and laying her head on Ollie's shoulder as she turned to look at the baby.

"I'm awake," Mia informed them, yawning and looking over at them. "Ask me what?"

Chloe lifted her head and looked at Oliver for a moment before turning to look at Mia, "it looks like we need to pick a name."

Her eyes widened a little. "Really?" she whispered, climbing off the couch and moving across the room to sit down beside Chloe on the floor. "We're keeping him?"

"It doesn't look like anyone is looking for him," Chloe told her quietly, "and you're right, we can't just... dump him somewhere."

Mia bit her lip and looked at the baby, reaching out and touching one of his tiny hands. "Connor."

Chloe blinked a couple of times at that, looking from Mia, to the baby and over to Oliver and raising her eyebrows.   
Oliver raised his eyebrows, considering it for a moment and looking down at the child. "Connor Queen," he murmured, a small smile tugging at his mouth. "I kinda like it."

With a deep breath, Chloe smiled a little and nodded, looking back to the baby too, "it does sound good." She agreed quietly. 

He grinned at her, then looked at Mia. "Good choice, Speedy."

Mia grinned too and sat up, nodding, "thanks," she said then looked between the two of them, "so does that mean we're really moving here? I mean, the penthouse is way bigger than the Clocktower."

Chloe gave her a look and shook her head even though she was smiling, "one big decision at a time, Mia."

Oliver couldn't help but chuckle softly. He winked at Mia and then looked at Chloe. "Oh, I thought we'd already decided the other thing."

At that, Chloe arched an eyebrow then shook her head, "not until you can prove you can keep your promises, Mr. Queen." She told him, smirking.

"Ew," Mia said, pushing herself away, "you're talking about sex, aren't you?"

"Us? Never," Oliver said innocently, winking at Chloe this time.

Chloe shook her head and smirked at him, then shrugged.

"Oh please," Mia said, getting up, "I'm not that stupid, but I'll make sure to protect Connor from you two when he's old enough to get it."

"She's going to make a great big sister, isn't she?" Oliver grinned, his eyes bright.

"Yeah," Chloe said quietly, taking a deep breath and resuming her position against Ollie's shoulder, "let's hope we make half decent parents."

"Somehow...I think we'll do just fine."

She pursed her lips together and lifted her head to look at him, watching him for a moment then leaning in and kissing his cheek softly before laying her head back down and turning to look at the baby once more. She hoped he was right.

**Author's Note:**

> ...please note that if you find a baby in a dumpster or anywhere else, you should definitely take them directly to the police or a hospital.


End file.
